Seven months ago I began a journey of practicing mindfulness every day and we've reached day 234. Yesterday, I talked about appreciating the abundance we already have. Today is a new day.
The irony in being a psychologist, is that despite studying the mind and developing a deep understanding of it, 70-80% of psychologists end up seeking counseling at some point because of personal struggles. We're human, just like anyone else, but something about diving deep into the abyss that is the mind makes all of our emotions so impactful and makes us prone to overthinking and analyzing everything. Yet while the analysis is enjoyable, we often come to a lot of existential realizations that tend to be a bit depressing.
Since practicing mindfulness, I've thought a lot about balance in life and our emotions play a big role in that. If everyone was always happy 100% of the time the world wouldn't necessarily be great like utopian stories would like us to think. Without a little chaos to spice things up life gets boring. You can't have light without some darkness.
There's the saying "you don't know what you have until it's gone". Many people aren't really in-touch with themselves and often don't know what they truly want. We might have ideas on things that sound awesome, but we usually don't really know until we have it. It is sometimes through the pain of sadness that we can learn a lot about ourselves and what we really want in life. In moving to a new country I miss things about America that I took for granted. In losing people I considered friends I've learned about the kind of people I want to spend my time with. It's the other side of the coin we aren't familiar with. Positive experiences, yin, is only one part of the whole. The yang (negative) energies are also necessary. Even the smallest components of life have positive and negative charges to balance them out. You can't understand everything without exploring the other half.
With this in mind, when I feel sad I try to remind myself that it's okay to feel sad, that it'll pass eventually, and that there might be something to gain from the experience. This morning I was reminded that no matter what happens I can still do my best to accomplish my goals. That setbacks don't have to be permanent. I have the rest of the day to turn that frown upside-down, so instead of sulking all day I'm going to try and make the best out of it. In putting in my best effort, I can then have, even if for a short while, enough happiness to keep me moving forward in return.
Peace
"The word 'happy' would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness." - Carl JungSome days I'll wake up feeling like shit and not want to do anything. Today was one of those days. No particular reason, I just wasn't in that mood. Some days just suck. Maybe you just got dumped, lost your job, someone close to you passed away, or you're just feeling a lot of stress from everything going on in your life. Everyone feels sadness at some point and it's completely natural.
The irony in being a psychologist, is that despite studying the mind and developing a deep understanding of it, 70-80% of psychologists end up seeking counseling at some point because of personal struggles. We're human, just like anyone else, but something about diving deep into the abyss that is the mind makes all of our emotions so impactful and makes us prone to overthinking and analyzing everything. Yet while the analysis is enjoyable, we often come to a lot of existential realizations that tend to be a bit depressing.
Since practicing mindfulness, I've thought a lot about balance in life and our emotions play a big role in that. If everyone was always happy 100% of the time the world wouldn't necessarily be great like utopian stories would like us to think. Without a little chaos to spice things up life gets boring. You can't have light without some darkness.
There's the saying "you don't know what you have until it's gone". Many people aren't really in-touch with themselves and often don't know what they truly want. We might have ideas on things that sound awesome, but we usually don't really know until we have it. It is sometimes through the pain of sadness that we can learn a lot about ourselves and what we really want in life. In moving to a new country I miss things about America that I took for granted. In losing people I considered friends I've learned about the kind of people I want to spend my time with. It's the other side of the coin we aren't familiar with. Positive experiences, yin, is only one part of the whole. The yang (negative) energies are also necessary. Even the smallest components of life have positive and negative charges to balance them out. You can't understand everything without exploring the other half.
With this in mind, when I feel sad I try to remind myself that it's okay to feel sad, that it'll pass eventually, and that there might be something to gain from the experience. This morning I was reminded that no matter what happens I can still do my best to accomplish my goals. That setbacks don't have to be permanent. I have the rest of the day to turn that frown upside-down, so instead of sulking all day I'm going to try and make the best out of it. In putting in my best effort, I can then have, even if for a short while, enough happiness to keep me moving forward in return.
Peace
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| Life is a roller coaster of ups and downs. Embrace the sadness and learn from it. |
What sorts of things has sadness taught you?
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